Preschooler Finds Way Into Baby Sitter's Pool, Drowns

NORTH LAUDERDALE — A preschooler left alone near a swimming pool at her baby sitter's home drowned when the woman went inside to bathe her own child, police said on Wednesday.

Christina Nicholson, 4, of North Lauderdale, was in the water for at least 15 minutes on Tuesday afternoon before she was pulled by a neighbor from a pool in the 6600 block of Pebble Beach, police said.

The child was pronounced dead a short time later at Coral Springs Medical Center, police Capt. Lou Cavallo said. The death was ruled accidental.

The drowning happened shortly after 3 p.m. when baby sitter Andrea Sewell-Liverpool, 28, left the child in the back yard while she gave her own baby a bath inside her house, Cavallo said.

Cavallo said Christina apparently opened a screen door to a patio that enclosed the pool, went inside and fell into the water.

Sewell-Liverpool found the child in the pool about 3:30 p.m.

"[The baby sitter) called out to the girl, and when she got no answer, she went out looking for her, and that is when she found her in the bottom of the pool," Cavallo said.

Sewell-Liverpool can't swim and ran screaming to a neighbor's house for help, Cavallo said. Retired paramedic Kurt Glaser, who lives across the street, heard the yelling.

"I heard the baby sitter screaming, `I can't swim, there is a child in the bottom of my pool.' So, I just took off," said Glaser, 37.

He dove into the pool, pulled the girl out and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation until rescue workers arrived.

FOR THE RECORD - ******CORRECTION PUBLISHED Thursday, February 17, 1994:******Because of incorrect information provided by North Lauderdale police, a Feb. 10 story stated that Christina Nicholson, 4, drowned in a backyard pool while baby sitter Andrea Sewell-Liverpool was inside bathing her own child. She was actually bathing Nicholson's sister. Nicholson was in the water about 15 minutes before she was discovered, police said.We regret the error.